Here you will find tales of voyages past and present on our trusty Pacific Seacraft Dana 24, "Sockdolager," from Port Townsend, Washington, USA. In 2009 we sailed north from Puget Sound up the west coast of Vancouver Island to the Queen Charlotte Islands (now called Haida Gwaii.) In 2010 we went back to the west coast of Vancouver Island. In July 2011 we left the Northwest, and in March 2012 we crossed the Pacific to French Polynesia, then on to the Cooks, Niue and Tonga. We spent several months in New Zealand, and in May 2013 loaded the boat (and ourselves) on a container ship for San Francisco. In June and July 2013 we sailed north along the California, Oregon and Washington coasts, and in August we arrived home. In October 2016 Sockdolager found new owners, and we are now enjoying Raven, a unique wooden 29' powerboat. Plans are to head north. We hope you enjoy reading about our adventures as much as we enjoy having them. (And there will be more.)

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Sunday, February 17, 2013

Back to Sea!

Auckland, New Zealand: We’re ready to go cruising again after a nice long break
savoring shoreside delights, like ice cream on demand and hot running water and
bicycles we can’t fit aboard the boat.
And park benches like this, of a Loch Ness-like creature called
Ngataringa the Dragon. Coolest bench
ever, no?

But we’re ready to head out again. Leaving the flat tomorrow, sailing shortly
afterward.

Photo credit: Lin Pardey

Great memories: Here’s a photo taken by Lin and Larry Pardey
at Kawau Island as they rowed out to Sockdolager for a visit. For Lin’s excellent description of that
delightful time spent visiting with them plus a cool story about long-ago cruisers, see their blog.

You know it’s going to
be a fun evening when you see this sight!

Some of the greatest joys of cruising are the friends you
make, and one of the hardest parts is time and again seeing those friends
disappear over the horizon, or sailing over it yourself.

While we will miss our friends in Auckland, we are heading
out to rejoin our sailing buddies, such as Deb and Don on Buena Vista, who've been out on Great Barrier Island...

…and to see how many other reunions we might have among the
islands and bays of the northeast coast of New Zealand’s North Island. Kawau Island is calling us back!

We would like to
apologize to our New England friends who just got buried in an “historic”
snowstorm with hurricane force winds that piled it up to something like
eighteen hundred feet deep.

That sounded more like a typical Alaskan snowstorm. You guys are supposed to be all about fall
foliage, not blizzards, right? We understand that New Englanders are now adopting this as a
universal sign of distress:

We are sorry to report that the weather has been fabulousexcellent pretty darned good here in New Zealand. In fact, you New Englanders may wish to skip
this entire post and all thoughts of it being summer someplace else, where some
#%&! so-and-sos are actually outside in flipflops and having barbecues and
going to outdoor cricket matches, for heaven’s sake.

Speaking of cricket
matches, England beat New Zealand in a game we attended with our Kiwi
friend Chris Adams, but really, the loss was a mere flesh wound. EnZed will roar back. Right, Black Caps? Say you will.

Jim had googled the rules for cricket and then, because he
was so knowledgeable, he was invited right out of the Eden Park Stadium stands
to bowl the first pitch, or whatever it’s called. Can you believe it?

Neither can we. Just
kidding. But he does exhibit astounding
athletic prowess in the sporting activity known as “Boat Yoga.” Here he is in the famous “downward facing
dog” pose, which is how you access a Dana 24’s extremely deep and commodious locker space.

Part of why he had to do this was because our 23 year-old
stainless steel water tank, which is in the bow section, had thoughtfully
waited to spring a leak on a welded seam until a day before Jim and Tom arrived
in New Zealand in December, and it had to come out for repair. Here it is all fixed up, sitting in the
cockpit ready for re-installation. The
repair is marked along the seam, and it should be good for many more years, we hope.

Dana owners, be aware
that the little ventilation tube up on the bow outboard of the water tank fill
can, in very rough head seas on a starboard tack, admit small amounts of
salt water back into the tank. Although
it’s rare, it happened to us twice on this voyage; once in the Tuamotus
when we had to cope with a slightly brackish taste until we could refill, and
again when Jim sailed from Vava’u to Tongatapu heeled way over in rough
seas. The tube admitted enough salt
water to require emptying the tank on arrival at Nuku Alofa.

We think that Jim’s efforts to partially block that backflow
with a porous sponge (hoping it would still let air in to equalize tank
pressure) may have set up a partial vacuum in the tank, as the contents were
sloshing violently around despite tank baffles, in the rough sea conditions
just before reaching New Zealand. Jim
has put a proper loop in the vent tube and is considering placing something
over it that admits air but not water; possibly a piece of Gore-Tex. There seems to be nothing made commercially
for this little issue.

While we’re at it, click here for the most thorough
review of a Dana 24 we’ve ever seen. Benjy’s web site has a wealth of
information.

We were dismayed to
learn of the January 26 loss of the beautiful varnished yacht Echo. We remember meeting Rob, a former superyacht
sailing professional, and his lovely Australia-bound yacht in Daniel’s Bay in
the Marquesas, and we are saddened to hear that this well-found vessel struck
an unknown object and sank after heroic efforts by Rob to save her. But we’re glad to know he was quickly rescued
from his life raft.

In upcoming posts
we will be covering topics such as outfitting a small boat for offshore
cruising; heaving to; and wildlife we’ve seen along the way.

America’s Cup: Below is the Italian entry in the upcoming
America’s cup race, Luna Rossa, being launched by crane for a sail. The number of restraining lines and boats
with engines in full reverse keeping it from taking off like a spooked deer
reminded us of that wild animal, which, if you think about it, is apt. Any 72-foot “disposable” catamaran that costs $8 million and can go 40 knots and requires crash helmets for its
crew is maybe a tad over the top in utter coolness, but it has more of a feel
like NASCAR for billionaires. It would be nice if someday the America’s Cup
went back to being a race among nations, most of whom can no longer afford to
compete.

And speaking of fabulous, we had a jolly time with renowned
and beloved marine meteorologist Bob McDavitt over dinner at at the
Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, with Mark and Michelle from S/V Cheers
and their friend Richard, who runs boats in Antarctica and elsewhere. Bob, who often does forecasts for the
America’s Cup teams and for westbound cruising boats in the South Pacific, is
also doing daily weather forecasts for the very intrepid Jean Socrates,
who at age 70 is well on her way, after three attempts, to sail solo nonstop
around the world. Currently she’s off
South Africa and will transit south of the world’s five great capes. Good luck, Jean!

We first met Bob via
his invaluable Weathergrams, to which you can subscribe via single
sideband radio, and when we got to NZ we decided to meet the man behind all
that enthusiastic weather knowledge.

Here’s one of several jam-packed trophy cases at the RNZYS. They take not only their racing seriously, but
also their polishing. And prudent seamanship--they have some great sail training programs for kids.

And here’s the spot where the America’s Cup once sat and may sit again, if NZ wins. It’s protected behind smash-proof glass
because some loony came in a few years ago and whacked the Auld Mug (first awarded in 1851) with a hammer, nearly destroying it. The trophy sitting in there now is the Louis Vuitton
Cup. The America’s Cup is in San
Francisco, and the competition trials start there in July, with the races being
September 7-23. Some of the best
coverage will be in Latitude 38 magazine online.

It has been a restful,
comfortable time in landlubberville, and we have made friends here, but we
are looking forward to going out to busta wave again and get our sea legs
back. The reclaiming of our sailor’s brains
(see medical diagram below) may take some adjustment. Except for the beer/rum lobe, of course, that one
needs no tune-up.

But first we need to tell you about the Auckland FolkFestival. In a word, it was a
blast. The music was excellent and the
host, Roger Giles, is also the host at the Devonport Folk Club. His hilarious running monologue between acts
kept everyone in stitches. Here’s Jim
driving our rented campervan to the Kumeu Fairgrounds festival site. The van was comfortable and simple.

And here’s another classic from the campgrounds.

First thing Karen did was head for the guitar booths, and
hoo boy, did she develop a powerful hankerin’ for a National steel guitar
played dobro style. She didn’t intend to
be such a participant but found herself onstage on Friday night performing two
original compositions on her baby Taylor, and then on Saturday afternoon with a
newly formed impromptu group dubbed The Vampire Cows From Mars singing the
Leonard Cohen song “Hallelujah.” The
entire audience joined right in on the chorus without a single prompt. We hope Mr. Cohen has an inkling of
how much joy his song has given to audiences everywhere.

It was the festival’s 40th anniversary
celebration, featuring all-NZ groups, and they were great. Here’s one of the headliners, a Dunedin-based
bluegrass/humor/folk group called The Chaps.

The day after the festival, we met our friend Chris in downtown
Auckland, and on a dare Karen went up onstage with a small jazz combo to belt
out “Cry Me a River.” Fun fun fun!

We always enjoy talking to taxi drivers, because most have
unusual stories. This one in Auckland
was no exception. We’ve gotten used to a
lot of Indian names as there’s a sizeable Indian population and most taxis are
driven by them, but when Jim saw this driver’s badge on the dashboard, he
couldn’t help asking, “Whoa! Your name is Hyper486? What part of India is that name from? The driver replied, “Actually, that’s not my
name. When I filled out the form I
accidentally juxtaposed my name and my password. That’s my password.” Laughing,
we asked him if passengers ever request his bank account numbers. Good
thing he has a sense of humor.

Our friends Jon and Carol Dutton from S/V Arnamentia joined us for Pub Quiz Night at the Patriot
in Devonport, which is housed in an old bank.
Although we were unable to recruit any of our busy Kiwi friends to join
us, WE STILL WON! By one measly point,
but who cares? The prize was a $50 bar tab.
That’s two for two in pub quizzes; in a Niue pub we set a new scoring
record. Maybe we should quit while we’re
ahead?

Team “Ocean Wanderers”
proudly displays their prize. Karen would like readers to know that she does
own more than one shirt. It’s merely a
coincidence that the same shirt appears 3 times in this post, but at least it’s
full of old maps.

Meanwhile back at the flat, Jim got back into programming by
designing an app that’s a GPS tracking analysis tool. It’ll show things like how much time we spent
going at various speeds across the Pacific, actual miles sailed, number of
nights offshore, and other things. He
will do a blog post about all that soon.
Karen never knew he could speak Python.
Here’s Jim letting his inner geek flag fly.

Here he is posing as Karen lets her inner scientist flag fly
at the Auckland museum. Had to get
another photo of that awesome wooly mammoth of the bird world, the moa.

Here’s a diorama of two royal albatross, which have 11-foot
wing spans and can weigh over twenty pounds.
Amazing birds. Can’t wait to
start seeing and identifying seabirds again. According to Karen’s friend Dr. Stuart Pimm,
who, among his other accomplishments is president of Saving Species.org, New Zealand is one of the
absolute best places in the world for that.
Can’t wait!

Jim, who would be a morning person if morning would only
start at noon, is looking forward to some fishing again. Here’s what Karen is expecting of him:

Finally, continuing our
tradition of bringing you the best in wacky boat names, here are three more
for your indigestion: